Compartment vehicle



\3 sheets-Sh 1 LAG March 22, 1932.

COMPARTMENT- VEHICLE Filed July 25, 1930 a NVENT l i'iiggff BY ATTORNEYWITNESSES 224 9 March 22, 1932. E.'FLAGG COMPARTMENT VEHICLE Filed July25, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR i'rnesfj' /a WITNESSES ATTORNEY March22, 1932. 7E. FLAGG 1,350,747

COMPARTMENT VEHICLE Filed July 25, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORWITNESSES Z 17 .95%] 74 at. 1 I w I BY W a,

, I", ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 22,1932) ERNESTFLAGG;OF NEW YORK, N. Y.-

COMPARTMENT VEHICLE Application filed July 25,

This invention relates generally to the construction of icompartmentvehicles and 7 while not necessarily limited-thereto, refers moreparticularly to animproved construction of a railway sleepingcar; 1 Thediscomforts and disadvantages of the ordinary twelve section typeof-sleeping car having upper and lower berths withfone stateroom arecommon knowledge and, While.

the recently developed compartment 'carhaving individual rooms willeliminate the discomforts of the above mentioned type, the number ofpersons accommodated by the latter has been materially'reduced. In thelatter'type the rooms'ar'e of such unnecessary hei' 'ht that'approximately one-thirdof the cubic contentiof the car 7 is; wasted,which might be utilized to good advantage.

It is, therefore, the'outstanding-object'of the I present; invention"to"provide an improved sleeping carport vehicle construction by virtueofwhich a maximumnumber of separate rooms or compartments; are provided inthe allotte'dspaca which rooms or" compartments are of a size whichafi'ord greater comfort and; freedom to the OCCIl-z pant, such asproviding: standingJspace alongside the berth with sufficient head-roomfor a personof not unusualheightg Itis a further aim of'theresent-inventionto provide ina railway sleepingcar permanent berthswhichmay be made up before the car'is occupied. or-started and in whichthe compartments are-of asufficlent sizeto "accommodate, in additiontoea'ch berth, a

chair, which may be shifted abo'ut'to suit theoccupant, as well as beingprovided with individual wash-basins and toilet hoppers.

a railway compartment car, an arrangement of upper and lowercompartments to which accessinay be as readily gained torthe upper" asto the lower compartments whereby the adversity to and consequent lossof fares from failure" to occupy the upper berths, is eliminated." a

Otherobjects of the inventionresid'e in the comparative simplicity ofconstruction of the carzor vehicle, the economy with'which the V Theinvention furthermore coinprehends in 1930. Serial No. 470,749.

same may be built and operated, and the genv eral efliciency derivedtherefrom.

:lVith the above recited and other objects in View,'reference is had tothe following specification and {accompanying drawings in .65 whichthere is exhibited one example or embodiment of the invention, while theclaims define the actual scope thereof In the drawings: I

Figure 1 is a fragmentary "sectional plan view takenfapproximately onthe line indicatedat 1, 1 of Figure 3. r i FigureQ is a similarviewtaken approxie mately on the line indicated at '22 ofFigure.3. 1Figure '3 is an enlarged transverse 'sectional view taken approximatelyon; the line indicated at 3+3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is asimilarcview taken approXimately on theline indicated at44: of Fig-' To ure'l.

Figure 5 is afragmentary longitudinal sectional' view takenapproximately on the a line indicated at 55 of Figure 1. c

V 'R ferring to theidrawings,bycharacters 0f175 reference, thecar'body-includes side walls 10 and 11 which are of slightly lesserheightthan that of an ordinary car, while the sidewalls 12 and 13 of theclear, story roof portion are of "slightly greater height thanordinarily while' the combined overall height of the'car, remainsstandard; 7 i i A longitudinalpartition 14 corresponding approximatelyto theheight of the s de walls 10 and '11 and adjacentone side wall 11de-- finestogether therewith a corridor C which extends throughout thelength of the car. Vertical longitudinally spaced partitions 15 extendin the lower'part of the car from the longitudinal partition 14; to theoppositeside wall 10 while the upper portions of said partitions 15extend completely between the side walls 12 and-13 ofthe-clear'story-roof structure. Each of the subdivisions defined by'thepartitions 15 is aga n vertically subdivided by fore and aft steppedpartitions 16 including anupper stepped port on 17 a lower stepped Iportion 18'and a riser. portion19; In pracei V tice the uppersteppedportion 17 will be U spaced from thefloor 20 of the car approxi-1 1 mately seven feet while the lower stepped portion 18 will be spacedfrom the ceiling 21 approximately the same distance to afford betweensaid portions the proper head room for an average person to stand erectwith suflicientclearance.

In the upper compartments U the berths B will be supported directly uponthe upper surface of the upper stepped portion of the partition 16,while in the lower compartments L, the berths B will be arranged tounderlie the lower stepped portion of the horizontal portions. Aninclined wall or partition 22 extends upwardly from the foot or innerend of the berths of the lower compartments L' and steps 23 projectoutwardly therefrom by virtue of which access may be gained to the uppercompartments U. Doorways D in the longitudinal partition 14 lead fromthe corridor C to the lower compartments L, while doorways E areprovided in the longitudinal partition sections F at the head of thestairway formed by the steps 23 to gain access to the upper compartmentsU. Between the free sideof the berths of both the upper and lowercompartments and the transverse partitions 15 space is afiorded for achair 24 which may be freely moved about tosuit the convenience of theoccupant of the compartment. In the lower compartments L, the toilethoppers 25 swivelly move from a normally I out-of-the-way position underthe berths to an exposed useable position as clearly illustrated indotted and'full lines in Figuse 1 of the drawings. In the lowercompartments L, the wash-basins 26 may be mounted to swing from anormally vertical inactive position to a horiontal useable position. ,7

In the upper compartments U, thetoilet hoppers 27 and wash-basins 28 areswiveled for movement from a normally inactive outof-the-way positionunderlying the lower portion of the clear story roof structure to anexposed active position as clearly illus trated in dotted and full linesin the drawings. 1 Between the endwalls 29 of the car and the endmostpartitions 15, a vestibule V is provided which may be subdivided by apartition 30 to afi'ord a porters closet W for the storage of towelsandbed clothing and other accessomes.

From the foregoing it will thus be seen that within the space of astandard sleeping car, a suflicient number of compartments have beenafforded for the accommodation of approximately as many persons as canbe accommodatedv by the present type of twelve section sleeping car inwhich each compartment provides for both the privacy and com fort oftheoccupant. It will also be apparent that ermanent berths permit of themaking up 0 the beds prior to the start of the car or its occupancy. Dueto the staggered arrangement of the berths of each pair of upper andlower compartments provision is made in each compartment for standingspace alongside the berth having sufiicient head-room to allow theoccupant to stand erect while dressing and undressing, washing, or forother purposes. In order to avoid increasing the standard height of thecar, it will be obscrved that the floor of the standing space of eachupper compartment is at a lower plane or level than theceiling of thestanding space of the lower compartment and that said floor overlies andserves as a ceiling for the berth of the lower compartment. Conversely,the standing space alongside the berth of the lower compartment directlyunderlies the berth of each upper compartment. I

While there has been illustrated certain details of construction, it isto be clearly understood that no limitation is necessarily intendedthereto and that variations and modifications which properly fall withinthe scope of the appended claims may be resorted to when desired. 1 Iclaim:

1. In a sleeping car or the like, a longitudinal corridor at one sidethereof, a row of pairs of superposed transversely arranged compartmentsrespectively communicating with the corridor, said compartments eachhaving a berth and standing space alongside the berth, the berth of theupper compartment of each pair being arranged over the ceiling of thestanding space of the lower compartment and the floor of the standingspace of each upper compartment being arranged over the berth of thelower compartment and disposed below the plane of the ceiling of thestanding space of the lower compartment, said upper and loweroompartments each having a doorway establishing communication betweenthe corridor and the standing space of the compartments and a stairwayleading from the corridor to the doorway of each upper compartment, saidstairway consisting of an inclined inner end wall at the berth portionof each lower compartmentand outwardly projecting steps from saidinclined wall.

2. A compartment vehicle includin 1 lower side walls and upper sidewalls 0 set inwardly with respect to the lower side walls, transversepartitions longitudinally subdividing the vehicle and fore and aftstepped horizontal partitions in each of said subdivisions definingtogether therewith a row of lower and upper compartments, and alongitudinal corridor adjacent one of the lower side walls havingcommunication respectively with the upper; and lower compartments.

3. A compartment vehicle including lower side walls and upper side wallsoffset inwardly with respect to the lower side walls, transversepartitions longitudinally subdividing the vehicle and fore and aftstepped horizontal partitions in each; of said subdivisions definingtogether therewith a row of: lower and upper compartments, a berth ineach compartment extending transversely of,

a the vehicle and having a standing space alongside thereof, the uppersurface of the zontal partitions providing floors' for the; standingspace of the upper compartments lower stepped'portion' of each of thehori-;

and the lower surface of the upper stepped portion thereof providingceilings for the standing space of the lower compartments.

4. A compartment vehicle havingrelativelynarrow and wide upper and lowerportions a longitudinal partition adjacent one subdivisions definingtogether therewith a row of pairs of upper and lower compartments.

5; A compartment vehicle having relatively narrow and wide upper andlower portions a longitudinal partition adjacent one side wall of thelower portion thereof defining together with said side wall, a corridorex tending throughout the length of the vehi ole, longitudinally spacedtransverse partitions extending from the longitudinal partition totheopposite side wall of theflower f portion and extending from thefloor to the ceiling of the vehicle and completely across the uppernarrow portion and subdividing said vehicle longitudinally and fore andaft stepped horizontal partitions in each of said subdivisions definingtogether therewith a,

row of pairs of upper and lower compartments, "a berthin each of saidcompartments having standing space alongside thereof, the upper. surfaceof the lower stepped portion of each of the horizontal partitionsproviding floors for the upper compartments and thelower surface of theupper stepped portion thereof providingceilings for the standing spaceof the lower com: partments. v

6. A 'compartment'vehicle having relatively narrow and wide'upper andlower portions a longitudinal partition adjacent one side wall of thelower portion thereof defining together with saidside wall a corridorextending throughout the length of theyehicle, longitudinally spacedtransverse partitions extending from thelongitudinal partition to v theopposite side wall of the lower portion and extending from the floor tothe ceiling of the vehicle and completely across the upper narrowportion andsubdividing said vehicle longitudinally and fore andaftstepped 'h0I'l1 z'ontalpartitionsin each of said subdivisionsdefiningtogether therewith a row of pairs of upper and lowercompartments, aberth in each of said compartments having standing spacealongside thereof,'the upper surface of the lower stepped portionof eachof the horizontalpartitions providing floors for the up per'compartmentsand the lower surfaceof the upper stepped portionzthereofprovidingceili'n'gsfor the standing space of the lower compartments, the berthsof each of the'lower compartments underlyingthe lower stepped portionsof the horizontal partitions, and ex tending through the longitudinalpartition to the opposite side wall of thelower portion.

7. Acompartment vehiclehaving relatively narrow and'wideup'per and lowerportions, a longitudinal partition adjacent oneside wall of the lowerportion thereof define ing together with said side wall, a corridorextending throughout the length of the vehicle, longitudinally spacedtransverse partitions extending fromthe longitudinal partition to theopposite side wall of the lower por-,- tion and extending from the'floorto the ceil r ingof thevehicle and completely across the upper narrowportion and subdividing said vehicle longitudinally and fore and aftstepped horizontal partitions in each of said i subdivisions (definingtogether therewitli a row of pairs ofupper and lower compartments aberth in each. of said compartments having: standing space alongsidethereof; the

upper surface of the lower steppedportionof;

each of the horizontal partitions providing'l ifioors for the uppercompartments and the I lowerssurface of the upper stepped portionthereofproviding; ceilings for thestanding space of the lower compartments, theberths of each ofthe, lowercompartments underlying the lower steppedportions of the horizontal partitions and the berths of the up percompartments directly overlying the upper stepped portions thereof, andextending completely across the width of the upper narrow portion of thevehicle.

8. A compartment vehicle having relatively narrow and wide upper andlower portions, a longitudinal partitionadjacent one side wall of thelower portion thereof defining together with said side wall a corridorextending throughout the length of the vehie ole, longitudinally spacedtransverse p'arti tions extendingvfromthe longitudinal partition to theopposite side wall of thelower portion and extending from the floor tothe ceiling of the vehicle and completely across. the upper narrowportion and subdividing said vehicle longitudinally and fore and aftstepped horizontal partitions in each of said subdivisions definingtogether therewith a row of, pairs of upper and lower compartments, aberth in each of saidcompartments having standing space alongsidethereof, the upper surface of the lower stepped portion of each of thehorizontal partitions providing floors for the upper compartments andthe lower surface of the upper stepped portion thereof providingceilings for the standing space of the lower compartments, the berths ofeach of the lower compartments underlying the lowerstepped portions ofthe horizontal partitions andthe berths of the upper compartmentsdirectly overlying the upper stepped portions thereof and extendingcompletely across the width of the u per narrow portion of the vehicleand partia ly overlying the longitudinal corridor.

9. A railway car of standard length, height and width including an upperportion of a reduced width, a corridor extending throughout the lengthof the car at one side of the lower portion thereof, transversepartitions subdividing the remainder of the car space longitudinally,stepped horizontal partitions in each of saidsub-divisions definingupper and lower compartments, a berth in each compartment having astanding space alongside thereof, the upper surface of the lower steppedportion of each horizontal partition providing a floor for the standingspace of the upper compartment, and the lowersurface of the upperstepped portion thereof pro- I viding a ceiling for the standing spaceof the lower compartment, stairways leading later-- ally upwardly fromthe corridor to the floors of the upper compartment, and extendingpartially over the berth space of the corre sponding lower compartment.I

Signed at New York, N. Y., in the county of New York and State of NewYork, this 22nd day of July, A. D. 1930. 7

- ERNEST FLAGG.

